14 DAY TRIAL // Google has reportedly shut down the accounts of online predators and removed explicit content as a response to a complaint made by Consumer Watchdog.
“Clearly you can police your network when you want to do so. Consumer Watchdog calls on you to continue such necessary efforts. However, as explained below you have still failed to address a fundamental design flaw in Google+ that violates users' privacy and Consumer Watchdog urges you to remedy this situation immediately,” Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Director John Simpson wrote in a letter addressed to Google CEO Larry Page.
The complaint sent out by the group criticized Google for allowing Google+ to become a virtual playground for online predators and explicit adult content in its quest to grow the userbase.
The letter then included a report from a tech industry whistleblower that periodically monitored the social network and that revealed several accounts from rather deranged individuals.
“Thankfully these accounts have been deleted. Without a doubt you have the resources to continue to monitor the network and remove inappropriate material. When it was called to your attention, you did so. Now Google must understand that part of the responsibility of the operator of a social network is to proactively monitor its content,” Simpson said.
“Consumer Watchdog calls on you to continue that necessary effort. However, doing that is not enough. You must address a fundamental design flaw in Google+ that compromises users' privacy,” Simpson continued in the same letter he sent to Larry Page.
One of the main issues the group found was that when someone wanted to add a particular person to their circles, they could do so without resistance, whereas, on a network such as Facebook, for instance, they’d need explicit approval.
Furthermore, since a user cannot remove himself or herself from someone’s Circles, things are made even worse.